Matière Interstellaire et Cosmologie

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Interstellar Matter and Cosmology

Welcome to the pages of the team Matière Interstellaire et Cosmologie (MIC) !

The team is made of two groups, Matière interstellaire (Interstellar Matter) and Cosmologie (Cosmology). Our research activities span a broad range of fields, from the physics of interstellar dust grains to the cosmology of the primordial universe. Details can be found on the Presentation page and on the thematic pages.

Since the 14th of August, the Planck satellite has departed from its observing orbit. This was the first of a series of steps followed by the switching off, on the 19th of October, of the science instruments on board: HFI (High Frequency Instrument) and LFI (Low Frequency Instrument). On Wednesday the 23rd of October, that is 1624 days after launch, communication with the Planck satellite ceased.

After 1,554 days in space, the Planck satellite has completed its observations on 14 August 14th, 2013. If the high frequency instrument HFI stopped operating on January 14th, 2012, the low frequency instrument LFI was able to work around an additional 600 days as its operating temperature is much higher than HFI. There remains to "park" the satellite in the solar system before saying goodbye.